Too Hot to Handle
Even great villains need to look before they leap - or in this case, touch something that is hot. In many a story, this happens when the villain is burned, scalded, or torched, especially when landing in a booby trap, defeated by the hero, or mistakenly grabs something that is hot (usually a heated metal). This usually falls under these circumstances: * The heat can harm or brand the villain, which can not only lead to his plans being thwarted, but in some cases, the brand can give the villain an opportunity to track something or someone down. * The heat cultivates the villain's rage, leading to his breakdown and causing him to lose his sanity. * The heat cultivates the villain's power, leading the villain to use the fire against someone, usually the hero. * The heat leads to the villain's pyrophobia (a noteworthy example is Shere Khan, as his hatred of humans stems from his fear of fire). * The villain literally goes out of the frying pan and into the fire, especially when he burns in hell or meets his doom at the wrath of the gods. While being burned can be used as slapstick, it is often very serious. Examples *Harry Lime goes to open the door to the McAllister's house but is burned on the hand by the scorching doorknob. Later, he literally goes out of the frying pan and into the fire when his burst through the back door activates a blowtorch that sets his hat on fire. *In a desperate attempt to escape, Taran splashes hot water into the Horned King's demonic glowing eyes, cultivating his rage. *Arnold Ernst Toht snatches the medallion, which burns him on the hand. In the end, he literally goes out of the frying pan and into the fire when he's burned by the flames of the Ark of the Covenant. *Mowgli outwits Shere Khan by tying a fiery branch to his tail, which in turn scares him off. *In Thea Stilton and the Mystery on the Orient Express, Dmitri gets burned on the hand with tea. *When Professor Quirrel attempts to get his hands on the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter burns his face to protect himself. *Gwangi lands in a hot mess when one of the cowboys manages to set the church on fire, burning the beast alive and ending his threat once and for all. *After retrieving her daughter and granddaughter, Laurie Strode traps Michael Myers in the saferoom with metal bars and fills the room with gas before dropping a flare into the saferoom, setting it ablaze. Quotes Gallery Harry burned.png|Harry Lime's hand burned by the doorknob (which was heated with a hot iron). harry hot mess.png|Harry Lime literally going out of the frying pan and into the fire, as his burst through the back door activates a blowtorch that sets his hat on fire. Horned king hot mess.png|The Horned King literally landing in a hot mess when Taran kicks boiling water into his eyes. Toht burned.png|Arnold Ernst Toht burning his hand. Khan got torched.png|Shere Khan landing in a hot mess when Mowgli ties his tail to a burning branch. Khan torched live action.png|Shere Khan getting torched in the live action film. Quirrell burnt.jpg|Professor Quirrell getting his face burnt by Harry Potter. Category:About Villains Category:Villainous Events